What moblie service to get, part 2

[Jonathon Suggs]

Mike wrote:
> mathew davis wrote:
>
>>   you also don't _need_ to sign up for a data plan, but I would bet 
>> if your getting this for the neo1973 you will have more features like 
>> google maps, internet browsing, and many other features that would 
>> require a data plan.  
>
> Thanks by why don't I need to sign up for a data plan? Can I get on 
> the web/internet without a data plan? Can I "dial" up like I asked in 
> my last email?
>
> And if I can, then couldn't I just get google maps by opening up a web 
> browser on my neo and going to maps.google.com, what's the advantage 
> of a data plan?
>
>> What services are you looking for?  You should check the wiki I think it 
>
> As in what cell phone service plans- tmobile, cingular, contracts, sim 
> cards, data plans, prepaid. what plans will it work with.  This seems 
> like an obvious set of common questions.  The only thing I found on 
> the wiki was "A: Wikipedia has a list of providers and technologies 
> here. A brief look gives the impression that T-Mobile and Cingular 
> (which is renaming itself AT&T) seem to be the only major ones."  
> That's not enough.
>
> thanks
> m
You can "dial" up, it will be really slow and probably unreliable.  I 
think 9.6k is as fast as you can go.  Not to mention that when you 
"dialing in" you will be using your cell phone minutes.  A data plan 
allows you to use GPRS, which is a newer (still pretty old though) and 
faster connection up to 56k.  The down side is that you will probably 
have to sign a contract.  You will then either get an unlimited plan 
(~$20-40/month) or a pay as you go plan (~.15/kb).

Let me know if you want more details.  And anyone else feel free to 
correct any mis-information.